Schools of robotic fish could one day map the ocean floor, detect pollution or inspect and survey submerged boats or oil and gas pipelines, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say. MIT engineers are showing off the latest generation of so-called robofish 15 years after they built the first one. The latest incarnation is sleeker, more streamlined and capable of mimicking the movements of a real fish
Tag Archives: ocean
Four Years After Katrina: New Orleans’ Green Makeover
After Hurricane Katrina flattened New Orleans exactly four years ago, on Aug. 29, 2005, the city emerged as an inadvertent symbol of global warming, the first American victim of climate change
Can Bill Gates stop hurricanes? Scientists doubt it
Hurricane experts are throwing cold water on an idea backed by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates aimed at controlling the weather. Gates and a dozen other scientists have raised eyebrows by submitting patent applications for a technology to reduce the danger of approaching hurricanes by cooling ocean temperatures. It’s a noble idea, given the horrible memories from Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast four years ago this week.
Google’s got a new way to surf the Internet, Hawaiian style
Many Google users probably didn’t notice this month that they can now display their search tips in the Hawaiian language.
‘Green goo’ biofuel gets a boost
Three years ago many would have dismissed the notion that a significant supply of the world’s automotive fuel could come from algae. But today the idea, while still an adventurous one, is getting much harder to ignore. Back then there were only a handful of companies seriously focused on producing algae fuel.
Shipwreck pocket watch returned after 128 years
A glimpse of something shiny on the ocean floor nine years ago led a Welsh diver to uncover a piece of local history that had been forgotten for more than a century.
‘Ominous feeling’ as California fire burns unchecked
Thousands of residents fled ahead of a raging wildfire near northern California’s Santa Cruz Mountains, and one man said he had an "ominous feeling" as ashes descended on him.
Twitter blackout left users feeling ‘jittery,’ ‘naked’
Christina Cimino was logging onto Twitter on Thursday morning when something happened that she found deeply unsettling. “I got some weird error message, and I’m like, ‘What’s going on!” the 24-year-old said.
Kepler Space Probe: Our Best Shot at Finding New Earths
William Borucki was more than a little bit nervous as he watched the Kepler spacecraft lift off from Cape Canaveral last March, and no wonder.
Churning Ocean Waters, One Jellyfish at a Time
The swimming of a single jellyfish generates barely a ripple in the world’s vast oceans. But what about a bloom of thousands of the creatures?